Does Your Healthcare Facility Have Water Intrusion?
Whether visible or hidden, and regardless of the age of the facility, water and water vapor can cause fungal growth and deterioration of building components, along with physical symptoms in people. Finding the cause of water intrusion and fixing it correctly makes the difference in providing healthcare consumers with the safe environments they expect.
Lessons Learned From a Death Outside a Hospital’s Doorstep
DeMarco’s refusal to accept the hospital’s silence, a desire for accountability, and ultimately a simple request for the hospital’s administration to sit down with him and apologize for the mistakes made were enough to make the hospital change its ways.
Crisis Communication: 10 Tips for Hospitals to Prepare for a Disaster
Several hospital leaders with firsthand experience in crisis management shared insights on how to address communication issues—a core element of emergency preparedness—in a discussion I moderated at the annual Voalte User Experience conference.
CMS Memo Emphasizes Revisions on Portable Generators, Emerging Infections
Most of the revisions outlined in the updates to Appendix Z focus on emergency power. However, the initial emphasis in the memo introducing the changes is on CMS’ concerns about adding “emerging infectious diseases” to the current definition of the all-hazards approach to planning
Check Your State for Deadlines on New Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals Rule
While the rule as a whole is not effective until six months after it is published in the Federal Register, there are some limitations. For instance, states that have their own RCRA programs will be allowed time to update their regulations to meet the new standards.
Sharp HealthCare: Before the Plane Crash
The disaster spurred officials at San Diego International Airport (SAN) and local hospitals to join forces to create an emergency preparedness partnership. A year after the crash, SAN and San Diego hospitals were holding regular meetings together, providing training, and developing contact sheets of whom to call should a crisis occur.
Webinars on New Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals Rule Rescheduled
The 90-minute webinars are now scheduled for February 14, March 4 and March 13, although the EPA warns that a second government shutdown could change delay the webinars again. Each of the webinars are set to begin at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
Remembering Winter Storm Jonas
To prepare for the storm, Taylor and his colleagues conducted a brainstorming session with the director of facilities planning to identify a list of potential spaces that could be converted into sleeping areas, ranking their convertibility from easy to difficult.
Wildfire and Smoke: Sharp HealthCare’s Fire Plans
In 2007, San Diego County had a huge wildfire that forced several hospitals, nursing homes, and behavioral health hospitals to evacuate. Sharp HealthCare was one of the hospital systems to take in some of those patients. And the area suffered from a devastating wildfire in 2003, known as the Cedar Fire.
Joint Commission’s New Emergency Management Checklist
The Joint Commission published a new Emergency Management Health Care Environment Checklist on its website, which helps healthcare organizations that are reopening their facilities after a disaster.